Packed With Nutrients Peanut butter is loaded with healthy fats, protein, fiber, and a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. These nutrients could aid weight loss, as the best diets incorporate plenty of nutrient-rich foods to adequately meet your dietary needs.
Peanut butter is a high-fiber food that promotes healthy weight loss. It keeps you full for a long time, stimulates metabolic system, and has a low glycemic index, which allows you to achieve your weight loss goals .
It's fairly rich in nutrients and a decent protein source. It's also loaded with fiber, vitamins, and minerals, although this doesn't seem as significant when you consider the high calorie load. It is perfectly fine to incorporate moderate amounts of peanut butter into a healthful diet.
Peanut butter is rich in a variety of nutrients — but it's also rich in calories and fat. While the healthy fats in peanut butter are nutritious, you should consume them in moderation to avoid unwanted weight gain or potential health problems. Commercial peanut butter brands often have added sugars, oils, and fats.
The perks of peanuts
So, both regular and natural peanut butters are safely out of the junk food category.
Consult your doctor or dietitian if you're not sure how much PB you should eat, but a good general rule of thumb is around one to two tablespoons a day. Newell said a healthy serving of any high-fat food is roughly two tablespoons.
Try to limit your peanut butter intake to one serving per day (two tablespoons), and make sure to count those 190 calories toward your daily caloric quota. Ideally, you shouldn't consume more than one tablespoon per meal and one teaspoon per snack.
Thanks to its impressive nutrient profile, some health advocates recommend eating peanut butter at night to support muscle growth, stabilize blood sugar levels, and improve sleep quality.
Peanut butter is loaded with so many good, health-promoting nutrients, including vitamin E, magnesium, iron, selenium and vitamin B6. Research shows that people who regularly eat nuts and nut butter, including peanut butter, are less likely to develop heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
"Eating too much peanut butter in a short time frame can cause people to become more constipated or have stomach aches due to the high amount of fat in a short time frame," Alicia Galvin, RD said. "Fat takes longer to digest and absorb, and peanut butter is mostly fat, so having too much can tax the digestive system."
Peanut butter has many nutritional benefits. Eating a small amount of peanut butter as part of a healthy snack before bed may help improve sleep quality and prevent overeating and weight gain the following day. Peanut butter is a nutrient-dense, high-calorie food containing vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber.
Fortunately for everyone who loves peanut butter, almond butter, and other nut butters, these creamy treats are fairly healthy. And as long as they don't contain hydrogenated fat, nut butters — including peanut butter — won't cause problems for your cholesterol levels.
Not linked to weight gain if eaten in moderation
Thus, peanut butter is unlikely to lead to weight gain if eaten in moderation — in other words, if you consume it as part of your daily calorie needs. In fact, most research links intake of peanut butter, peanuts, and other nuts to lower body weight ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ).
Peanut butter is a good source of protein that can promote the feeling of fullness and result in fat loss. It may also reduce your appetite and help you consume limited calories. This will help you lose weight. You may also experience better metabolism with the consumption of peanut butter.
When you pair peanut butter with whole-grain toast you're getting a healthy dose of fiber and protein as well, which also help fuel your morning and keep you full.
It is rich in several nutrients, including protein and magnesium, which may help protect the heart and manage blood sugar and body weight. However, eating too much peanut butter can increase a person's daily intake of saturated fat, sodium, and calories.
An open jar of peanut butter stays fresh up to three months in the pantry. After that, it's recommended to store the peanut butter in the fridge (where it can maintain its quality for another 3-4 months). If you don't refrigerate, oil separation can occur.
It can result in weight gain.
"Peanut butter is high in calories—two tablespoons have about 180 calories—so eating too much of it can lead to weight gain," said New York City-based registered dietitian Natalie Rizzo, MS.
Bottom Line: Without hesitation, Peanut Butter is the 'healthier' alternative to Nutella. Peanut Butter is lower in sugar, higher in protein and often lower in your unhealthy fats. The Centre of Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) describes Nutella as “more sugar and modified palm oil than hazlenut“.
The advantage is, high oleic acid peanuts are more stable to oxidation and hence can retain flavors better during storage.” So peanut butter tastes better, in part, because it holds its flavor longer.
If you're on a low-fat diet, you may not be getting enough healthy fats, which can make you crave peanut butter. Peanut butter is also a common appetite suppressant in people following a low-carbohydrate diet. Low-sugar peanut butters are part of the accepted food category on many low-carb diets.
Peanut butter and banana is a match made in heaven, so it only makes sense that they come together to spruce up your healthy bowl of goodness. You can add it to your breakfast rotation, and it will provide a nice change of pace from your usual routine.
Many people eat peanut butter at breakfast, on toast, a bagel, or in a smoothie. Some people use peanut butter in cooking, for example, to make sauces for vegetables. It is also great as a snack.